Tetons

The wet snow avalanche hazard will be low in the morning and will increase to moderate during the warmest portion of the day. Depending on the location 5 am temperatures are similar to or several degrees warmer than they were yesterday morning. Warm temperatures and sunshine will soften snow surfaces and increase the wet snow avalanche hazard on very steep slopes. Wet snow slides are possible on steep sunlit aspects. Cornice failures and roof slides are possible. Monitor conditions and avoid steep terrain after snow surfaces become wet.

Snow showers will develop overnight in the southern portion of our forecast area and spread into far western Wyoming. The freezing level is forecast be around 6,500 feet overnight and rise to 7,000 to 7,500 feet on Friday. Snow will favor the southern end of the Salt River and Wyoming Ranges where 3 to 5 inches are likely to accumulate at the higher elevations by Friday evening. A mix of rain and snow is forecast for the lower elevations. Temperatures of Friday will rise into the 30s and 40s in the mountains. Easterly winds will be light at 5 to 15 miles per hour.Warm temperatures and areas of rain on a snowpack with poor snow structure will be a concern at the lower elevations on Friday. This scenario may initiate wet snow avalanche activity on very steep slopes. The general avalanche hazard below an elevation of 7,500 feet is expected to be moderate and could increase to considerable if heavy and/or sustained rain occurs. At the higher elevations deep persistent slab avalanches that could fail on buried weak layers continue to be a potential hazard in isolated areas of the Togwotee Pass and Greys River/Southwest Trails forecast regions. For this reason the general avalanche hazard at those elevations is expected to be moderate. In the Teton zone the hazard at the higher elevations is likely to be low.